When 27-year-old Mitchelle Omullo, a sickle cell disease warrior and advocate, reached out to her doctor at Victoria Annex Hospital in Kisumu, she expected a simple confirmation of her admission for a critical procedure known as apheresis.
Apheresis is a medical procedure that removes sickled or defective blood cells from a patient’s bloodstream and replaces them with healthy ones from a donor. It is vital in preventing stroke and organ damage in severe cases of sickle cell disease. This is a life-sustaining treatment that filters and replaces damaged blood cells.
Instead, she was met with devastating news: the procedure could not proceed due to logistical and financial setbacks between hospitals and partners responsible for providing the specialized equipment and personnel.
“I was due for my procedure this week, but the doctor told me it couldn’t happen,” Mitchelle said, her voice frail yet steady. “The team from Nairobi West Hospital, who handle the apheresis machine, can’t come because payments for previous sessions haven’t been made. I was supposed to undergo this every three months, but now, I don’t know what will happen,” she add, almost in tears.
Apheresis, a complex but lifesaving process, is essential for managing sickle cell disease which is a genetic blood disorder that causes red blood cells to deform, leading to excruciating pain, organ damage and life-threatening complications.
In Kisumu, the Victoria Annex Hospital, home to the newly established Centre for Sickle Cell Disease, had brought a ray of hope to hundreds of patients across the Lake Region. For warriors like Mitchelle, who was the first patient to undergo red blood cell exchange at the facility, this represented progress and a bold step toward accessible and specialized care.
But behind the bright headlines, ribbon-cutting ceremonies and vocabulary – studded english, lies a grim reality: the system remains fragile, fragmented and underfunded.
According to Mitchelle, Nairobi West Hospital which owns and operates the apheresis machine in partnership with Terumo Blood Cell Technologies, halted the program after accumulating unpaid bills for five patients who had already undergone the procedure.
“They said they won’t continue until the pending payments are cleared,” Mitchelle explains. “After me, they did four more patients and now everything has stopped.”
This bureaucratic standoff has effectively cut off access to care for dozens of patients who depend on timely blood exchange to prevent crises. Without it, the risk of severe complications like stroke, organ failure, or death, looms dangerously close.
Kenya has made public commitments to strengthen the fight against non-communicable diseases, including sickle cell disease. Yet, experts warn that policy pledges have not translated into action.
Dr. Gregory Ganda, Kisumu County’s minister for Health, has previously acknowledged the significance of the Victoria Annex Centre, noting that it was meant to bridge the gap between patients and specialized care previously only available in Nairobi.
However, the latest crisis exposes how unpreparedness, poor coordination and inconsistent funding continue to undermine that mission.
For Mitchelle and others like her, every missed procedure is a race against time.
“We have warriors who can’t afford private care,” she says. “Every time such a delay happens, it’s not just inconvenience but it’s also life and death. We need urgent intervention,” she emphasizes.
The situation raises serious questions: Why are patients being caught in administrative crossfire? Why are essential medical procedures dependent on unpredictable partnerships instead of structured health systems?
Advocates are now urging both county and national governments to step in, clear pending payments and secure a permanent apheresis facility within the Kisumu centre. The current arrangement, where machines and doctors have to be flown in from Nairobi, is neither sustainable nor fair to patients in western Kenya.
Mitchelle, despite her own health struggles, continues to use her voice to push for reform.
“We’ve made progress, but we are not yet there,” she says. “Sickle cell warriors need consistent care, not promises. We need systems that work because our lives depend on it.”
Attempts to reach Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (Jootrh) and Nairobi West Hospital for their comments were futile.
